8 Week Whippet

[poodlefan]

Thank you poodle fan and lozzie....you have helped me confirm that I am doing the right things. It is always nice to get positive feedback! ANd lozzie - are your whippets as gorgeous as they look? We did our research before we chose whippets, but they do seem to be a good choice for a family pet yes?

Whippets are fantastic family pets!! They are one of my favourite breeds of dogs. I babysit FHR's whippet Herbie from time to time and he's a great dog. And yep, he sleeps in my room when he stays.

Whippets don't have a particularly high exercise requirement, don't tend to be barkers, don't tend to have aggression issues and have fine coats so you don't notice the shedding. However, they can be unreliable offlead if not very well trained and do have the instinct to chase small animals.

If you have a chance to take your whippet lure coursing when she grows up then give it a go.. although Herbie wouldn't be seen dead chasing a plastic bag - he prefers rabbits.

[Lozzie]

Lozzie- yep, my Coco is as beautiful as she looks She is the white and brindle in my sig, the blue brindle boy is my greyhound Ziggy.

They are a fantastic family pet as long as the littlies know to be gentle with them. They do require little exercise, I give mine 2-3 offleash runs (fully fenced of course) per week plus 2-3 walks and plenty of mental stimulation. They are very clever, but only ever use positive training techniques, they are sensitive in that way. The pic on the left of my sig is Coco at lure coursing- she absolutely loves it and is pretty good too, I cannot recommend it enough. Once your girl is old enough you should give her a try- lure coursing dates are usually posted in the training or social events pages here.

Oh and they are total thieves! You will start noticing soon that if she likes something, she will take it and put it in her pile, wherever she decides her pile will be And mine was horrible through teething, so make sure you have plenty of chew toys and ice blocks on hand!

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Whippets really prefer to be WITH their people, and a crate in your room would be the best option. Mine actually prefer to be in their peoples beds.

The laundry is probably a cold room, sighthounds with very little body fat and such fine skin and coats really feel the cold, a cold puppy is a very unhappy noisy puppy.

A crate in your room covered with a blanket and nice cozy polar fleece blankie to snuggle up with should make for quieter nights and a warmer happier puppy.

Nadia is spot on with this advice I have an Italian Greyhound and he is actually very distressed if ever we get separated, he will not tolerate being in another room (I got him aged 7 as a rescue dog). He gets into bed with me if he gets cold but he has a thick coat and polar fleeces over him during the night, even in summer sometimes.

This type of dog REALLY feels the cold so outside, even in a laundry is not suitable.

[Ittybitty_]

Whippets really prefer to be WITH their people, and a crate in your room would be the best option. Mine actually prefer to be in their peoples beds. ;)

The laundry is probably a cold room, sighthounds with very little body fat and such fine skin and coats really feel the cold, a cold puppy is a very unhappy noisy puppy.

A crate in your room covered with a blanket and nice cozy polar fleece blankie to snuggle up with should make for quieter nights and a warmer happier puppy.

Yep, I second that

I have got an 11 wk old Italian Greyhound, and like whippets, they want to be WITH you all the time.

Im guessing the laundry is tiles??? They would really hold the cold in, and give a chill..

I tried my Italian in a crate when he arrived here at 8 weeks old, but he cried all night.. Even with blankets and the heater on, he was cold in the crate, so I put him IN my bed with the electric blanket on, and he sleeps right through to morning now :rolleyes: He just prefers to be with me..

and like the italian, your little whippet would make a GREAT ever lasting hot water bottle in your bed